Class Class<T>
- java.lang.Object
-
- java.lang.Class<T>
- Type Parameters:
-
T
- the type of the class modeled by thisClass
object. For example, the type ofString.class
isClass<String>
. UseClass<?>
if the class being modeled is unknown.
- All Implemented Interfaces:
-
Serializable
,AnnotatedElement
,GenericDeclaration
,Type
public final class Class<T> extends Object implements Serializable, GenericDeclaration, Type, AnnotatedElement
Instances of the class Class
represent classes and interfaces in a running Java application. An enum type is a kind of class and an annotation type is a kind of interface. Every array also belongs to a class that is reflected as a Class
object that is shared by all arrays with the same element type and number of dimensions. The primitive Java types (boolean
, byte
, char
, short
, int
, long
, float
, and double
), and the keyword void
are also represented as Class
objects.
Class
has no public constructor. Instead a Class
object is constructed automatically by the Java Virtual Machine when a class loader invokes one of the defineClass
methods and passes the bytes of a class
file.
The methods of class Class
expose many characteristics of a class or interface. Most characteristics are derived from the class
file that the class loader passed to the Java Virtual Machine. A few characteristics are determined by the class loading environment at run time, such as the module returned by getModule()
.
Some methods of class Class
expose whether the declaration of a class or interface in Java source code was enclosed within another declaration. Other methods describe how a class or interface is situated in a nest. A nest is a set of classes and interfaces, in the same run-time package, that allow mutual access to their private
members. The classes and interfaces are known as nestmates. One nestmate acts as the nest host, and enumerates the other nestmates which belong to the nest; each of them in turn records it as the nest host. The classes and interfaces which belong to a nest, including its host, are determined when class
files are generated, for example, a Java compiler will typically record a top-level class as the host of a nest where the other members are the classes and interfaces whose declarations are enclosed within the top-level class declaration.
The following example uses a Class
object to print the class name of an object:
void printClassName(Object obj) { System.out.println("The class of " + obj + " is " + obj.getClass().getName()); }
It is also possible to get the Class
object for a named type (or for void) using a class literal. See Section 15.8.2 of The Java™ Language Specification. For example:
System.out.println("The name of class Foo is: "+Foo.class.getName());
- Since:
- 1.0
- See Also:
-
ClassLoader.defineClass(byte[], int, int)
, Serialized Form
Method Summary
Modifier and Type | Method | Description |
---|---|---|
<U> Class<? extends U> | asSubclass(Class<U> clazz) | Casts this |
T | cast(Object obj) | Casts an object to the class or interface represented by this |
boolean | desiredAssertionStatus() | Returns the assertion status that would be assigned to this class if it were to be initialized at the time this method is invoked. |
static Class<?> | forName(Module module,
String name) | Returns the |
static Class<?> | forName(String className) | Returns the |
static Class<?> | forName(String name,
boolean initialize,
ClassLoader loader) | Returns the |
AnnotatedType[] | getAnnotatedInterfaces() | Returns an array of |
AnnotatedType | getAnnotatedSuperclass() | Returns an |
<A extends Annotation> | getAnnotation(Class<A> annotationClass) | Returns this element's annotation for the specified type if such an annotation is present, else null. |
Annotation[] | getAnnotations() | Returns annotations that are present on this element. |
<A extends Annotation> | getAnnotationsByType(Class<A> annotationClass) | Returns annotations that are associated with this element. |
String | getCanonicalName() | Returns the canonical name of the underlying class as defined by the Java Language Specification. |
Class<?>[] | getClasses() | Returns an array containing |
ClassLoader | getClassLoader() | Returns the class loader for the class. |
Class<?> | getComponentType() | Returns the |
Constructor<T> | getConstructor(Class<?>... parameterTypes) | Returns a |
Constructor<?>[] | getConstructors() | Returns an array containing |
<A extends Annotation> | getDeclaredAnnotation(Class<A> annotationClass) | Returns this element's annotation for the specified type if such an annotation is directly present, else null. |
Annotation[] | getDeclaredAnnotations() | Returns annotations that are directly present on this element. |
<A extends Annotation> | getDeclaredAnnotationsByType(Class<A> annotationClass) | Returns this element's annotation(s) for the specified type if such annotations are either directly present or indirectly present. |
Class<?>[] | getDeclaredClasses() | Returns an array of |
Constructor<T> | getDeclaredConstructor(Class<?>... parameterTypes) | Returns a |
Constructor<?>[] | getDeclaredConstructors() | Returns an array of |
Field | getDeclaredField(String name) | Returns a |
Field[] | getDeclaredFields() | Returns an array of |
Method | getDeclaredMethod(String name,
Class<?>... parameterTypes) | Returns a |
Method[] | getDeclaredMethods() | Returns an array containing |
Class<?> | getDeclaringClass() | If the class or interface represented by this |
Class<?> | getEnclosingClass() | Returns the immediately enclosing class of the underlying class. |
Constructor<?> | getEnclosingConstructor() | If this |
Method | getEnclosingMethod() | If this |
T[] | getEnumConstants() | Returns the elements of this enum class or null if this Class object does not represent an enum type. |
Field | getField(String name) | Returns a |
Field[] | getFields() | Returns an array containing |
Type[] | getGenericInterfaces() | Returns the |
Type | getGenericSuperclass() | Returns the |
Class<?>[] | getInterfaces() | Returns the interfaces directly implemented by the class or interface represented by this object. |
Method | getMethod(String name,
Class<?>... parameterTypes) | Returns a |
Method[] | getMethods() | Returns an array containing |
int | getModifiers() | Returns the Java language modifiers for this class or interface, encoded in an integer. |
Module | getModule() | Returns the module that this class or interface is a member of. |
String | getName() | Returns the name of the entity (class, interface, array class, primitive type, or void) represented by this |
Class<?> | getNestHost() | Returns the nest host of the nest to which the class or interface represented by this |
Class<?>[] | getNestMembers() | Returns an array containing |
Package | getPackage() | Gets the package of this class. |
String | getPackageName() | Returns the fully qualified package name. |
ProtectionDomain | getProtectionDomain() | Returns the |
URL | getResource(String name) | Finds a resource with a given name. |
InputStream | getResourceAsStream(String name) | Finds a resource with a given name. |
Object[] | getSigners() | Gets the signers of this class. |
String | getSimpleName() | Returns the simple name of the underlying class as given in the source code. |
Class<? super T> | getSuperclass() | Returns the |
String | getTypeName() | Return an informative string for the name of this type. |
TypeVariable<Class<T>>[] | getTypeParameters() | Returns an array of |
boolean | isAnnotation() | Returns true if this |
boolean | isAnnotationPresent(Class<? extends Annotation> annotationClass) | Returns true if an annotation for the specified type is present on this element, else false. |
boolean | isAnonymousClass() | Returns |
boolean | isArray() | Determines if this |
boolean | isAssignableFrom(Class<?> cls) | Determines if the class or interface represented by this |
boolean | isEnum() | Returns true if and only if this class was declared as an enum in the source code. |
boolean | isInstance(Object obj) | Determines if the specified |
boolean | isInterface() | Determines if the specified |
boolean | isLocalClass() | Returns |
boolean | isMemberClass() | Returns |
boolean | isNestmateOf(Class<?> c) | Determines if the given |
boolean | isPrimitive() | Determines if the specified |
boolean | isSynthetic() | Returns |
T | newInstance() | Deprecated. This method propagates any exception thrown by the nullary constructor, including a checked exception. |
String | toGenericString() | Returns a string describing this |
String | toString() | Converts the object to a string. |
Methods declared in class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
Method Detail
toString
public String toString()
Converts the object to a string. The string representation is the string "class" or "interface", followed by a space, and then by the fully qualified name of the class in the format returned by getName
. If this Class
object represents a primitive type, this method returns the name of the primitive type. If this Class
object represents void this method returns "void". If this Class
object represents an array type, this method returns "class " followed by getName
.
toGenericString
public String toGenericString()
Returns a string describing this Class
, including information about modifiers and type parameters. The string is formatted as a list of type modifiers, if any, followed by the kind of type (empty string for primitive types and class
, enum
, interface
, or @
interface
, as appropriate), followed by the type's name, followed by an angle-bracketed comma-separated list of the type's type parameters, if any. A space is used to separate modifiers from one another and to separate any modifiers from the kind of type. The modifiers occur in canonical order. If there are no type parameters, the type parameter list is elided. For an array type, the string starts with the type name, followed by an angle-bracketed comma-separated list of the type's type parameters, if any, followed by a sequence of []
characters, one set of brackets per dimension of the array.
Note that since information about the runtime representation of a type is being generated, modifiers not present on the originating source code or illegal on the originating source code may be present.
- Returns:
- a string describing this
Class
, including information about modifiers and type parameters - Since:
- 1.8
forName
public static Class<?> forName(String className) throws ClassNotFoundException
Returns the Class
object associated with the class or interface with the given string name. Invoking this method is equivalent to:
Class.forName(className, true, currentLoader)where
currentLoader
denotes the defining class loader of the current class.
For example, the following code fragment returns the runtime Class
descriptor for the class named java.lang.Thread
:
Class t = Class.forName("java.lang.Thread")
A call to forName("X")
causes the class named X
to be initialized.
- Parameters:
-
className
- the fully qualified name of the desired class. - Returns:
- the
Class
object for the class with the specified name. - Throws:
-
LinkageError
- if the linkage fails -
ExceptionInInitializerError
- if the initialization provoked by this method fails -
ClassNotFoundException
- if the class cannot be located
forName
public static Class<?> forName(String name, boolean initialize, ClassLoader loader) throws ClassNotFoundException
Returns the Class
object associated with the class or interface with the given string name, using the given class loader. Given the fully qualified name for a class or interface (in the same format returned by getName
) this method attempts to locate, load, and link the class or interface. The specified class loader is used to load the class or interface. If the parameter loader
is null, the class is loaded through the bootstrap class loader. The class is initialized only if the initialize
parameter is true
and if it has not been initialized earlier.
If name
denotes a primitive type or void, an attempt will be made to locate a user-defined class in the unnamed package whose name is name
. Therefore, this method cannot be used to obtain any of the Class
objects representing primitive types or void.
If name
denotes an array class, the component type of the array class is loaded but not initialized.
For example, in an instance method the expression:
Class.forName("Foo")is equivalent to:
Class.forName("Foo", true, this.getClass().getClassLoader())Note that this method throws errors related to loading, linking or initializing as specified in Sections 12.2, 12.3 and 12.4 of The Java Language Specification. Note that this method does not check whether the requested class is accessible to its caller.
- Parameters:
-
name
- fully qualified name of the desired class -
initialize
- iftrue
the class will be initialized. See Section 12.4 of The Java Language Specification. -
loader
- class loader from which the class must be loaded - Returns:
- class object representing the desired class
- Throws:
-
LinkageError
- if the linkage fails -
ExceptionInInitializerError
- if the initialization provoked by this method fails -
ClassNotFoundException
- if the class cannot be located by the specified class loader -
SecurityException
- if a security manager is present, and theloader
isnull
, and the caller's class loader is notnull
, and the caller does not have theRuntimePermission
("getClassLoader")
- Since:
- 1.2
- See Also:
-
forName(String)
,ClassLoader
forName
public static Class<?> forName(Module module, String name)
Returns the Class
with the given binary name in the given module.
This method attempts to locate, load, and link the class or interface. It does not run the class initializer. If the class is not found, this method returns null
.
If the class loader of the given module defines other modules and the given name is a class defined in a different module, this method returns null
after the class is loaded.
This method does not check whether the requested class is accessible to its caller.
- API Note:
- This method returns
null
on failure rather than throwing aClassNotFoundException
, as is done by theforName(String, boolean, ClassLoader)
method. The security check is a stack-based permission check if the caller loads a class in another module. - Parameters:
-
module
- A module -
name
- The binary name of the class - Returns:
-
Class
object of the given name defined in the given module;null
if not found. - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given module or name isnull
-
LinkageError
- if the linkage fails -
SecurityException
-- if the caller is not the specified module and
RuntimePermission("getClassLoader")
permission is denied; or - access to the module content is denied. For example, permission check will be performed when a class loader calls
ModuleReader.open(String)
to read the bytes of a class file in a module.
- if the caller is not the specified module and
- Since:
- 9
newInstance
@Deprecated(since="9") public T newInstance() throws InstantiationException, IllegalAccessException
This method propagates any exception thrown by the nullary constructor, including a checked exception. Use of this method effectively bypasses the compile-time exception checking that would otherwise be performed by the compiler. The Constructor.newInstance
method avoids this problem by wrapping any exception thrown by the constructor in a (checked) InvocationTargetException
.
The call
clazz.newInstance()can be replaced by
clazz.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance()The latter sequence of calls is inferred to be able to throw the additional exception types
InvocationTargetException
and NoSuchMethodException
. Both of these exception types are subclasses of ReflectiveOperationException
.Creates a new instance of the class represented by this Class
object. The class is instantiated as if by a new
expression with an empty argument list. The class is initialized if it has not already been initialized.
- Returns:
- a newly allocated instance of the class represented by this object.
- Throws:
-
IllegalAccessException
- if the class or its nullary constructor is not accessible. -
InstantiationException
- if thisClass
represents an abstract class, an interface, an array class, a primitive type, or void; or if the class has no nullary constructor; or if the instantiation fails for some other reason. -
ExceptionInInitializerError
- if the initialization provoked by this method fails. -
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class.
isInstance
public boolean isInstance(Object obj)
Determines if the specified Object
is assignment-compatible with the object represented by this Class
. This method is the dynamic equivalent of the Java language instanceof
operator. The method returns true
if the specified Object
argument is non-null and can be cast to the reference type represented by this Class
object without raising a ClassCastException.
It returns false
otherwise.
Specifically, if this Class
object represents a declared class, this method returns true
if the specified Object
argument is an instance of the represented class (or of any of its subclasses); it returns false
otherwise. If this Class
object represents an array class, this method returns true
if the specified Object
argument can be converted to an object of the array class by an identity conversion or by a widening reference conversion; it returns false
otherwise. If this Class
object represents an interface, this method returns true
if the class or any superclass of the specified Object
argument implements this interface; it returns false
otherwise. If this Class
object represents a primitive type, this method returns false
.
- Parameters:
-
obj
- the object to check - Returns:
- true if
obj
is an instance of this class - Since:
- 1.1
isAssignableFrom
public boolean isAssignableFrom(Class<?> cls)
Determines if the class or interface represented by this Class
object is either the same as, or is a superclass or superinterface of, the class or interface represented by the specified Class
parameter. It returns true
if so; otherwise it returns false
. If this Class
object represents a primitive type, this method returns true
if the specified Class
parameter is exactly this Class
object; otherwise it returns false
.
Specifically, this method tests whether the type represented by the specified Class
parameter can be converted to the type represented by this Class
object via an identity conversion or via a widening reference conversion. See The Java Language Specification, sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.4 , for details.
- Parameters:
-
cls
- theClass
object to be checked - Returns:
- the
boolean
value indicating whether objects of the typecls
can be assigned to objects of this class - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the specified Class parameter is null. - Since:
- 1.1
isInterface
public boolean isInterface()
Determines if the specified Class
object represents an interface type.
- Returns:
-
true
if this object represents an interface;false
otherwise.
isArray
public boolean isArray()
Determines if this Class
object represents an array class.
- Returns:
-
true
if this object represents an array class;false
otherwise. - Since:
- 1.1
isPrimitive
public boolean isPrimitive()
Determines if the specified Class
object represents a primitive type.
There are nine predefined Class
objects to represent the eight primitive types and void. These are created by the Java Virtual Machine, and have the same names as the primitive types that they represent, namely boolean
, byte
, char
, short
, int
, long
, float
, and double
.
These objects may only be accessed via the following public static final variables, and are the only Class
objects for which this method returns true
.
- Returns:
- true if and only if this class represents a primitive type
- Since:
- 1.1
- See Also:
-
Boolean.TYPE
,Character.TYPE
,Byte.TYPE
,Short.TYPE
,Integer.TYPE
,Long.TYPE
,Float.TYPE
,Double.TYPE
,Void.TYPE
isAnnotation
public boolean isAnnotation()
Returns true if this Class
object represents an annotation type. Note that if this method returns true, isInterface()
would also return true, as all annotation types are also interfaces.
- Returns:
-
true
if this class object represents an annotation type;false
otherwise - Since:
- 1.5
isSynthetic
public boolean isSynthetic()
Returns true
if this class is a synthetic class; returns false
otherwise.
- Returns:
-
true
if and only if this class is a synthetic class as defined by the Java Language Specification. - Since:
- 1.5
getName
public String getName()
Returns the name of the entity (class, interface, array class, primitive type, or void) represented by this Class
object, as a String
.
If this class object represents a reference type that is not an array type then the binary name of the class is returned, as specified by The Java™ Language Specification.
If this class object represents a primitive type or void, then the name returned is a String
equal to the Java language keyword corresponding to the primitive type or void.
If this class object represents a class of arrays, then the internal form of the name consists of the name of the element type preceded by one or more '[
' characters representing the depth of the array nesting. The encoding of element type names is as follows:
Element Type | Encoding |
---|---|
boolean | Z |
byte | B |
char | C |
class or interface | Lclassname; |
double | D |
float | F |
int | I |
long | J |
short | S |
The class or interface name classname is the binary name of the class specified above.
Examples:
String.class.getName() returns "java.lang.String" byte.class.getName() returns "byte" (new Object[3]).getClass().getName() returns "[Ljava.lang.Object;" (new int[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]).getClass().getName() returns "[[[[[[[I"
- Returns:
- the name of the class or interface represented by this object.
getClassLoader
public ClassLoader getClassLoader()
Returns the class loader for the class. Some implementations may use null to represent the bootstrap class loader. This method will return null in such implementations if this class was loaded by the bootstrap class loader.
If this object represents a primitive type or void, null is returned.
- Returns:
- the class loader that loaded the class or interface represented by this object.
- Throws:
-
SecurityException
- if a security manager is present, and the caller's class loader is notnull
and is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the class whose class loader is requested, and the caller does not have theRuntimePermission
("getClassLoader")
- See Also:
-
ClassLoader
,SecurityManager.checkPermission(java.security.Permission)
,RuntimePermission
getModule
public Module getModule()
Returns the module that this class or interface is a member of. If this class represents an array type then this method returns the Module
for the element type. If this class represents a primitive type or void, then the Module
object for the java.base
module is returned. If this class is in an unnamed module then the unnamed Module
of the class loader for this class is returned.
- Returns:
- the module that this class or interface is a member of
- Since:
- 9
getTypeParameters
public TypeVariable<Class<T>>[] getTypeParameters()
Returns an array of TypeVariable
objects that represent the type variables declared by the generic declaration represented by this GenericDeclaration
object, in declaration order. Returns an array of length 0 if the underlying generic declaration declares no type variables.
- Specified by:
-
getTypeParameters
in interfaceGenericDeclaration
- Returns:
- an array of
TypeVariable
objects that represent the type variables declared by this generic declaration - Throws:
-
GenericSignatureFormatError
- if the generic signature of this generic declaration does not conform to the format specified in The Java™ Virtual Machine Specification - Since:
- 1.5
getSuperclass
public Class<? super T> getSuperclass()
Returns the Class
representing the direct superclass of the entity (class, interface, primitive type or void) represented by this Class
. If this Class
represents either the Object
class, an interface, a primitive type, or void, then null is returned. If this object represents an array class then the Class
object representing the Object
class is returned.
- Returns:
- the direct superclass of the class represented by this object
getGenericSuperclass
public Type getGenericSuperclass()
Returns the Type
representing the direct superclass of the entity (class, interface, primitive type or void) represented by this Class
.
If the superclass is a parameterized type, the Type
object returned must accurately reflect the actual type parameters used in the source code. The parameterized type representing the superclass is created if it had not been created before. See the declaration of ParameterizedType
for the semantics of the creation process for parameterized types. If this Class
represents either the Object
class, an interface, a primitive type, or void, then null is returned. If this object represents an array class then the Class
object representing the Object
class is returned.
- Returns:
- the direct superclass of the class represented by this object
- Throws:
-
GenericSignatureFormatError
- if the generic class signature does not conform to the format specified in The Java™ Virtual Machine Specification -
TypeNotPresentException
- if the generic superclass refers to a non-existent type declaration -
MalformedParameterizedTypeException
- if the generic superclass refers to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason - Since:
- 1.5
getPackage
public Package getPackage()
Gets the package of this class.
If this class represents an array type, a primitive type or void, this method returns null
.
- Returns:
- the package of this class.
getPackageName
public String getPackageName()
Returns the fully qualified package name.
If this class is a top level class, then this method returns the fully qualified name of the package that the class is a member of, or the empty string if the class is in an unnamed package.
If this class is a member class, then this method is equivalent to invoking getPackageName()
on the enclosing class.
If this class is a local class or an anonymous class, then this method is equivalent to invoking getPackageName()
on the declaring class of the enclosing method or enclosing constructor.
If this class represents an array type then this method returns the package name of the element type. If this class represents a primitive type or void then the package name "java.lang
" is returned.
- Returns:
- the fully qualified package name
- Since:
- 9
getInterfaces
public Class<?>[] getInterfaces()
Returns the interfaces directly implemented by the class or interface represented by this object.
If this object represents a class, the return value is an array containing objects representing all interfaces directly implemented by the class. The order of the interface objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface names in the implements
clause of the declaration of the class represented by this object. For example, given the declaration:
class Shimmer implements FloorWax, DessertTopping { ... }suppose the value of
s
is an instance of Shimmer
; the value of the expression: s.getClass().getInterfaces()[0]is the
Class
object that represents interface FloorWax
; and the value of: s.getClass().getInterfaces()[1]is the
Class
object that represents interface DessertTopping
. If this object represents an interface, the array contains objects representing all interfaces directly extended by the interface. The order of the interface objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface names in the extends
clause of the declaration of the interface represented by this object.
If this object represents a class or interface that implements no interfaces, the method returns an array of length 0.
If this object represents a primitive type or void, the method returns an array of length 0.
If this Class
object represents an array type, the interfaces Cloneable
and java.io.Serializable
are returned in that order.
- Returns:
- an array of interfaces directly implemented by this class
getGenericInterfaces
public Type[] getGenericInterfaces()
Returns the Type
s representing the interfaces directly implemented by the class or interface represented by this object.
If a superinterface is a parameterized type, the Type
object returned for it must accurately reflect the actual type parameters used in the source code. The parameterized type representing each superinterface is created if it had not been created before. See the declaration of ParameterizedType
for the semantics of the creation process for parameterized types.
If this object represents a class, the return value is an array containing objects representing all interfaces directly implemented by the class. The order of the interface objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface names in the implements
clause of the declaration of the class represented by this object.
If this object represents an interface, the array contains objects representing all interfaces directly extended by the interface. The order of the interface objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface names in the extends
clause of the declaration of the interface represented by this object.
If this object represents a class or interface that implements no interfaces, the method returns an array of length 0.
If this object represents a primitive type or void, the method returns an array of length 0.
If this Class
object represents an array type, the interfaces Cloneable
and java.io.Serializable
are returned in that order.
- Returns:
- an array of interfaces directly implemented by this class
- Throws:
-
GenericSignatureFormatError
- if the generic class signature does not conform to the format specified in The Java™ Virtual Machine Specification -
TypeNotPresentException
- if any of the generic superinterfaces refers to a non-existent type declaration -
MalformedParameterizedTypeException
- if any of the generic superinterfaces refer to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated for any reason - Since:
- 1.5
getComponentType
public Class<?> getComponentType()
Returns the Class
representing the component type of an array. If this class does not represent an array class this method returns null.
- Returns:
- the
Class
representing the component type of this class if this class is an array - Since:
- 1.1
- See Also:
Array
getModifiers
public int getModifiers()
Returns the Java language modifiers for this class or interface, encoded in an integer. The modifiers consist of the Java Virtual Machine's constants for public
, protected
, private
, final
, static
, abstract
and interface
; they should be decoded using the methods of class Modifier
.
If the underlying class is an array class, then its public
, private
and protected
modifiers are the same as those of its component type. If this Class
represents a primitive type or void, its public
modifier is always true
, and its protected
and private
modifiers are always false
. If this object represents an array class, a primitive type or void, then its final
modifier is always true
and its interface modifier is always false
. The values of its other modifiers are not determined by this specification.
The modifier encodings are defined in The Java Virtual Machine Specification, table 4.1.
- Returns:
- the
int
representing the modifiers for this class - Since:
- 1.1
- See Also:
Modifier
getSigners
public Object[] getSigners()
Gets the signers of this class.
- Returns:
- the signers of this class, or null if there are no signers. In particular, this method returns null if this object represents a primitive type or void.
- Since:
- 1.1
getEnclosingMethod
public Method getEnclosingMethod() throws SecurityException
If this Class
object represents a local or anonymous class within a method, returns a Method
object representing the immediately enclosing method of the underlying class. Returns null
otherwise. In particular, this method returns null
if the underlying class is a local or anonymous class immediately enclosed by a type declaration, instance initializer or static initializer.
- Returns:
- the immediately enclosing method of the underlying class, if that class is a local or anonymous class; otherwise
null
. - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of the enclosing class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the methods within the enclosing class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the enclosing class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of the enclosing class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of the enclosing class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.5
getEnclosingConstructor
public Constructor<?> getEnclosingConstructor() throws SecurityException
If this Class
object represents a local or anonymous class within a constructor, returns a Constructor
object representing the immediately enclosing constructor of the underlying class. Returns null
otherwise. In particular, this method returns null
if the underlying class is a local or anonymous class immediately enclosed by a type declaration, instance initializer or static initializer.
- Returns:
- the immediately enclosing constructor of the underlying class, if that class is a local or anonymous class; otherwise
null
. - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of the enclosing class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the constructors within the enclosing class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the enclosing class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of the enclosing class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of the enclosing class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.5
getDeclaringClass
public Class<?> getDeclaringClass() throws SecurityException
If the class or interface represented by this Class
object is a member of another class, returns the Class
object representing the class in which it was declared. This method returns null if this class or interface is not a member of any other class. If this Class
object represents an array class, a primitive type, or void,then this method returns null.
- Returns:
- the declaring class for this class
- Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the declaring class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of the declaring class - Since:
- 1.1
getEnclosingClass
public Class<?> getEnclosingClass() throws SecurityException
Returns the immediately enclosing class of the underlying class. If the underlying class is a top level class this method returns null
.
- Returns:
- the immediately enclosing class of the underlying class
- Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the enclosing class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of the enclosing class - Since:
- 1.5
getSimpleName
public String getSimpleName()
Returns the simple name of the underlying class as given in the source code. Returns an empty string if the underlying class is anonymous.
The simple name of an array is the simple name of the component type with "[]" appended. In particular the simple name of an array whose component type is anonymous is "[]".
- Returns:
- the simple name of the underlying class
- Since:
- 1.5
getTypeName
public String getTypeName()
Return an informative string for the name of this type.
- Specified by:
-
getTypeName
in interfaceType
- Returns:
- an informative string for the name of this type
- Since:
- 1.8
getCanonicalName
public String getCanonicalName()
Returns the canonical name of the underlying class as defined by the Java Language Specification. Returns null if the underlying class does not have a canonical name (i.e., if it is a local or anonymous class or an array whose component type does not have a canonical name).
- Returns:
- the canonical name of the underlying class if it exists, and
null
otherwise. - Since:
- 1.5
isAnonymousClass
public boolean isAnonymousClass()
Returns true
if and only if the underlying class is an anonymous class.
- Returns:
-
true
if and only if this class is an anonymous class. - Since:
- 1.5
isLocalClass
public boolean isLocalClass()
Returns true
if and only if the underlying class is a local class.
- Returns:
-
true
if and only if this class is a local class. - Since:
- 1.5
isMemberClass
public boolean isMemberClass()
Returns true
if and only if the underlying class is a member class.
- Returns:
-
true
if and only if this class is a member class. - Since:
- 1.5
getClasses
public Class<?>[] getClasses()
Returns an array containing Class
objects representing all the public classes and interfaces that are members of the class represented by this Class
object. This includes public class and interface members inherited from superclasses and public class and interface members declared by the class. This method returns an array of length 0 if this Class
object has no public member classes or interfaces. This method also returns an array of length 0 if this Class
object represents a primitive type, an array class, or void.
- Returns:
- the array of
Class
objects representing the public members of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getFields
public Field[] getFields() throws SecurityException
Returns an array containing Field
objects reflecting all the accessible public fields of the class or interface represented by this Class
object.
If this Class
object represents a class or interface with no accessible public fields, then this method returns an array of length 0.
If this Class
object represents a class, then this method returns the public fields of the class and of all its superclasses and superinterfaces.
If this Class
object represents an interface, then this method returns the fields of the interface and of all its superinterfaces.
If this Class
object represents an array type, a primitive type, or void, then this method returns an array of length 0.
The elements in the returned array are not sorted and are not in any particular order.
- Returns:
- the array of
Field
objects representing the public fields - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getMethods
public Method[] getMethods() throws SecurityException
Returns an array containing Method
objects reflecting all the public methods of the class or interface represented by this
Class
object, including those declared by the class or interface and those inherited from superclasses and superinterfaces.
If this Class
object represents an array type, then the returned array has a Method
object for each of the public methods inherited by the array type from Object
. It does not contain a Method
object for clone()
.
If this Class
object represents an interface then the returned array does not contain any implicitly declared methods from Object
. Therefore, if no methods are explicitly declared in this interface or any of its superinterfaces then the returned array has length 0. (Note that a Class
object which represents a class always has public methods, inherited from Object
.)
The returned array never contains methods with names "<init>
" or "<clinit>
".
The elements in the returned array are not sorted and are not in any particular order.
Generally, the result is computed as with the following 4 step algorithm. Let C be the class or interface represented by this Class
object:
- A union of methods is composed of:
- C's declared public instance and static methods as returned by
getDeclaredMethods()
and filtered to include only public methods. - If C is a class other than
Object
, then include the result of invoking this algorithm recursively on the superclass of C. - Include the results of invoking this algorithm recursively on all direct superinterfaces of C, but include only instance methods.
- C's declared public instance and static methods as returned by
- Union from step 1 is partitioned into subsets of methods with same signature (name, parameter types) and return type.
- Within each such subset only the most specific methods are selected. Let method M be a method from a set of methods with same signature and return type. M is most specific if there is no such method N != M from the same set, such that N is more specific than M. N is more specific than M if:
- N is declared by a class and M is declared by an interface; or
- N and M are both declared by classes or both by interfaces and N's declaring type is the same as or a subtype of M's declaring type (clearly, if M's and N's declaring types are the same type, then M and N are the same method).
- The result of this algorithm is the union of all selected methods from step 3.
- API Note:
- There may be more than one method with a particular name and parameter types in a class because while the Java language forbids a class to declare multiple methods with the same signature but different return types, the Java virtual machine does not. This increased flexibility in the virtual machine can be used to implement various language features. For example, covariant returns can be implemented with bridge methods; the bridge method and the overriding method would have the same signature but different return types.
- Returns:
- the array of
Method
objects representing the public methods of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getConstructors
public Constructor<?>[] getConstructors() throws SecurityException
Returns an array containing Constructor
objects reflecting all the public constructors of the class represented by this Class
object. An array of length 0 is returned if the class has no public constructors, or if the class is an array class, or if the class reflects a primitive type or void. Note that while this method returns an array of
Constructor<T>
objects (that is an array of constructors from this class), the return type of this method is
Constructor<?>[]
and not Constructor<T>[]
as might be expected. This less informative return type is necessary since after being returned from this method, the array could be modified to hold Constructor
objects for different classes, which would violate the type guarantees of Constructor<T>[]
.
- Returns:
- the array of
Constructor
objects representing the public constructors of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getField
public Field getField(String name) throws NoSuchFieldException, SecurityException
Returns a Field
object that reflects the specified public member field of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. The name
parameter is a String
specifying the simple name of the desired field.
The field to be reflected is determined by the algorithm that follows. Let C be the class or interface represented by this object:
- If C declares a public field with the name specified, that is the field to be reflected.
- If no field was found in step 1 above, this algorithm is applied recursively to each direct superinterface of C. The direct superinterfaces are searched in the order they were declared.
- If no field was found in steps 1 and 2 above, and C has a superclass S, then this algorithm is invoked recursively upon S. If C has no superclass, then a
NoSuchFieldException
is thrown.
If this Class
object represents an array type, then this method does not find the length
field of the array type.
- Parameters:
-
name
- the field name - Returns:
- the
Field
object of this class specified byname
- Throws:
-
NoSuchFieldException
- if a field with the specified name is not found. -
NullPointerException
- ifname
isnull
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getMethod
public Method getMethod(String name, Class<?>... parameterTypes) throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException
Returns a Method
object that reflects the specified public member method of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. The name
parameter is a String
specifying the simple name of the desired method. The parameterTypes
parameter is an array of Class
objects that identify the method's formal parameter types, in declared order. If parameterTypes
is null
, it is treated as if it were an empty array.
If this Class
object represents an array type, then this method finds any public method inherited by the array type from Object
except method clone()
.
If this Class
object represents an interface then this method does not find any implicitly declared method from Object
. Therefore, if no methods are explicitly declared in this interface or any of its superinterfaces, then this method does not find any method.
This method does not find any method with name "<init>
" or "<clinit>
".
Generally, the method to be reflected is determined by the 4 step algorithm that follows. Let C be the class or interface represented by this Class
object:
- A union of methods is composed of:
- C's declared public instance and static methods as returned by
getDeclaredMethods()
and filtered to include only public methods that match givenname
andparameterTypes
- If C is a class other than
Object
, then include the result of invoking this algorithm recursively on the superclass of C. - Include the results of invoking this algorithm recursively on all direct superinterfaces of C, but include only instance methods.
- C's declared public instance and static methods as returned by
- This union is partitioned into subsets of methods with same return type (the selection of methods from step 1 also guarantees that they have the same method name and parameter types).
- Within each such subset only the most specific methods are selected. Let method M be a method from a set of methods with same VM signature (return type, name, parameter types). M is most specific if there is no such method N != M from the same set, such that N is more specific than M. N is more specific than M if:
- N is declared by a class and M is declared by an interface; or
- N and M are both declared by classes or both by interfaces and N's declaring type is the same as or a subtype of M's declaring type (clearly, if M's and N's declaring types are the same type, then M and N are the same method).
- The result of this algorithm is chosen arbitrarily from the methods with most specific return type among all selected methods from step 3. Let R be a return type of a method M from the set of all selected methods from step 3. M is a method with most specific return type if there is no such method N != M from the same set, having return type S != R, such that S is a subtype of R as determined by R.class.
isAssignableFrom(java.lang.Class<?>)
(S.class).
- API Note:
- There may be more than one method with matching name and parameter types in a class because while the Java language forbids a class to declare multiple methods with the same signature but different return types, the Java virtual machine does not. This increased flexibility in the virtual machine can be used to implement various language features. For example, covariant returns can be implemented with bridge methods; the bridge method and the overriding method would have the same signature but different return types. This method would return the overriding method as it would have a more specific return type.
- Parameters:
-
name
- the name of the method -
parameterTypes
- the list of parameters - Returns:
- the
Method
object that matches the specifiedname
andparameterTypes
- Throws:
-
NoSuchMethodException
- if a matching method is not found or if the name is "<init>"or "<clinit>". -
NullPointerException
- ifname
isnull
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getConstructor
public Constructor<T> getConstructor(Class<?>... parameterTypes) throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException
Returns a Constructor
object that reflects the specified public constructor of the class represented by this Class
object. The parameterTypes
parameter is an array of Class
objects that identify the constructor's formal parameter types, in declared order. If this Class
object represents an inner class declared in a non-static context, the formal parameter types include the explicit enclosing instance as the first parameter.
The constructor to reflect is the public constructor of the class represented by this Class
object whose formal parameter types match those specified by parameterTypes
.
- Parameters:
-
parameterTypes
- the parameter array - Returns:
- the
Constructor
object of the public constructor that matches the specifiedparameterTypes
- Throws:
-
NoSuchMethodException
- if a matching method is not found. -
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class. - Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredClasses
public Class<?>[] getDeclaredClasses() throws SecurityException
Returns an array of Class
objects reflecting all the classes and interfaces declared as members of the class represented by this Class
object. This includes public, protected, default (package) access, and private classes and interfaces declared by the class, but excludes inherited classes and interfaces. This method returns an array of length 0 if the class declares no classes or interfaces as members, or if this Class
object represents a primitive type, an array class, or void.
- Returns:
- the array of
Class
objects representing all the declared members of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared classes within this class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredFields
public Field[] getDeclaredFields() throws SecurityException
Returns an array of Field
objects reflecting all the fields declared by the class or interface represented by this Class
object. This includes public, protected, default (package) access, and private fields, but excludes inherited fields.
If this Class
object represents a class or interface with no declared fields, then this method returns an array of length 0.
If this Class
object represents an array type, a primitive type, or void, then this method returns an array of length 0.
The elements in the returned array are not sorted and are not in any particular order.
- Returns:
- the array of
Field
objects representing all the declared fields of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared fields within this class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredMethods
public Method[] getDeclaredMethods() throws SecurityException
Returns an array containing Method
objects reflecting all the declared methods of the class or interface represented by this
Class
object, including public, protected, default (package) access, and private methods, but excluding inherited methods.
If this Class
object represents a type that has multiple declared methods with the same name and parameter types, but different return types, then the returned array has a Method
object for each such method.
If this Class
object represents a type that has a class initialization method <clinit>
, then the returned array does not have a corresponding Method
object.
If this Class
object represents a class or interface with no declared methods, then the returned array has length 0.
If this Class
object represents an array type, a primitive type, or void, then the returned array has length 0.
The elements in the returned array are not sorted and are not in any particular order.
- Returns:
- the array of
Method
objects representing all the declared methods of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared methods within this class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredConstructors
public Constructor<?>[] getDeclaredConstructors() throws SecurityException
Returns an array of Constructor
objects reflecting all the constructors declared by the class represented by this Class
object. These are public, protected, default (package) access, and private constructors. The elements in the array returned are not sorted and are not in any particular order. If the class has a default constructor, it is included in the returned array. This method returns an array of length 0 if this Class
object represents an interface, a primitive type, an array class, or void.
See The Java Language Specification, section 8.2.
- Returns:
- the array of
Constructor
objects representing all the declared constructors of this class - Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared constructors within this class - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredField
public Field getDeclaredField(String name) throws NoSuchFieldException, SecurityException
Returns a Field
object that reflects the specified declared field of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. The name
parameter is a String
that specifies the simple name of the desired field.
If this Class
object represents an array type, then this method does not find the length
field of the array type.
- Parameters:
-
name
- the name of the field - Returns:
- the
Field
object for the specified field in this class - Throws:
-
NoSuchFieldException
- if a field with the specified name is not found. -
NullPointerException
- ifname
isnull
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared field - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredMethod
public Method getDeclaredMethod(String name, Class<?>... parameterTypes) throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException
Returns a Method
object that reflects the specified declared method of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. The name
parameter is a String
that specifies the simple name of the desired method, and the parameterTypes
parameter is an array of Class
objects that identify the method's formal parameter types, in declared order. If more than one method with the same parameter types is declared in a class, and one of these methods has a return type that is more specific than any of the others, that method is returned; otherwise one of the methods is chosen arbitrarily. If the name is "<init>"or "<clinit>" a NoSuchMethodException
is raised.
If this Class
object represents an array type, then this method does not find the clone()
method.
- Parameters:
-
name
- the name of the method -
parameterTypes
- the parameter array - Returns:
- the
Method
object for the method of this class matching the specified name and parameters - Throws:
-
NoSuchMethodException
- if a matching method is not found. -
NullPointerException
- ifname
isnull
-
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared method - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getDeclaredConstructor
public Constructor<T> getDeclaredConstructor(Class<?>... parameterTypes) throws NoSuchMethodException, SecurityException
Returns a Constructor
object that reflects the specified constructor of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. The parameterTypes
parameter is an array of Class
objects that identify the constructor's formal parameter types, in declared order. If this Class
object represents an inner class declared in a non-static context, the formal parameter types include the explicit enclosing instance as the first parameter.
- Parameters:
-
parameterTypes
- the parameter array - Returns:
- The
Constructor
object for the constructor with the specified parameter list - Throws:
-
NoSuchMethodException
- if a matching method is not found. -
SecurityException
- If a security manager, s, is present and any of the following conditions is met:- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
s.checkPermission
method withRuntimePermission("accessDeclaredMembers")
denies access to the declared constructor - the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the current class and invocation of
s.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of this class
- the caller's class loader is not the same as the class loader of this class and invocation of
- Since:
- 1.1
getResourceAsStream
public InputStream getResourceAsStream(String name)
Finds a resource with a given name.
If this class is in a named Module
then this method will attempt to find the resource in the module. This is done by delegating to the module's class loader findResource(String,String)
method, invoking it with the module name and the absolute name of the resource. Resources in named modules are subject to the rules for encapsulation specified in the Module
getResourceAsStream
method and so this method returns null
when the resource is a non-".class
" resource in a package that is not open to the caller's module.
Otherwise, if this class is not in a named module then the rules for searching resources associated with a given class are implemented by the defining class loader of the class. This method delegates to this object's class loader. If this object was loaded by the bootstrap class loader, the method delegates to ClassLoader.getSystemResourceAsStream(java.lang.String)
.
Before delegation, an absolute resource name is constructed from the given resource name using this algorithm:
- If the
name
begins with a'/'
('\u002f'
), then the absolute name of the resource is the portion of thename
following the'/'
. - Otherwise, the absolute name is of the following form:
modified_package_name/name
Where the
modified_package_name
is the package name of this object with'/'
substituted for'.'
('\u002e'
).
- Parameters:
-
name
- name of the desired resource - Returns:
- A
InputStream
object;null
if no resource with this name is found, the resource is in a package that is not open to at least the caller module, or access to the resource is denied by the security manager. - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- Ifname
isnull
- Since:
- 1.1
- See Also:
Module.getResourceAsStream(String)
getResource
public URL getResource(String name)
Finds a resource with a given name.
If this class is in a named Module
then this method will attempt to find the resource in the module. This is done by delegating to the module's class loader findResource(String,String)
method, invoking it with the module name and the absolute name of the resource. Resources in named modules are subject to the rules for encapsulation specified in the Module
getResourceAsStream
method and so this method returns null
when the resource is a non-".class
" resource in a package that is not open to the caller's module.
Otherwise, if this class is not in a named module then the rules for searching resources associated with a given class are implemented by the defining class loader of the class. This method delegates to this object's class loader. If this object was loaded by the bootstrap class loader, the method delegates to ClassLoader.getSystemResource(java.lang.String)
.
Before delegation, an absolute resource name is constructed from the given resource name using this algorithm:
- If the
name
begins with a'/'
('\u002f'
), then the absolute name of the resource is the portion of thename
following the'/'
. - Otherwise, the absolute name is of the following form:
modified_package_name/name
Where the
modified_package_name
is the package name of this object with'/'
substituted for'.'
('\u002e'
).
- Parameters:
-
name
- name of the desired resource - Returns:
- A
URL
object;null
if no resource with this name is found, the resource cannot be located by a URL, the resource is in a package that is not open to at least the caller module, or access to the resource is denied by the security manager. - Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- Ifname
isnull
- Since:
- 1.1
getProtectionDomain
public ProtectionDomain getProtectionDomain()
Returns the ProtectionDomain
of this class. If there is a security manager installed, this method first calls the security manager's checkPermission
method with a RuntimePermission("getProtectionDomain")
permission to ensure it's ok to get the ProtectionDomain
.
- Returns:
- the ProtectionDomain of this class
- Throws:
-
SecurityException
- if a security manager exists and itscheckPermission
method doesn't allow getting the ProtectionDomain. - Since:
- 1.2
- See Also:
-
ProtectionDomain
,SecurityManager.checkPermission(java.security.Permission)
,RuntimePermission
desiredAssertionStatus
public boolean desiredAssertionStatus()
Returns the assertion status that would be assigned to this class if it were to be initialized at the time this method is invoked. If this class has had its assertion status set, the most recent setting will be returned; otherwise, if any package default assertion status pertains to this class, the most recent setting for the most specific pertinent package default assertion status is returned; otherwise, if this class is not a system class (i.e., it has a class loader) its class loader's default assertion status is returned; otherwise, the system class default assertion status is returned.
Few programmers will have any need for this method; it is provided for the benefit of the JRE itself. (It allows a class to determine at the time that it is initialized whether assertions should be enabled.) Note that this method is not guaranteed to return the actual assertion status that was (or will be) associated with the specified class when it was (or will be) initialized.
- Returns:
- the desired assertion status of the specified class.
- Since:
- 1.4
- See Also:
-
ClassLoader.setClassAssertionStatus(java.lang.String, boolean)
,ClassLoader.setPackageAssertionStatus(java.lang.String, boolean)
,ClassLoader.setDefaultAssertionStatus(boolean)
isEnum
public boolean isEnum()
Returns true if and only if this class was declared as an enum in the source code.
- Returns:
- true if and only if this class was declared as an enum in the source code
- Since:
- 1.5
getEnumConstants
public T[] getEnumConstants()
Returns the elements of this enum class or null if this Class object does not represent an enum type.
- Returns:
- an array containing the values comprising the enum class represented by this Class object in the order they're declared, or null if this Class object does not represent an enum type
- Since:
- 1.5
cast
public T cast(Object obj)
Casts an object to the class or interface represented by this Class
object.
- Parameters:
-
obj
- the object to be cast - Returns:
- the object after casting, or null if obj is null
- Throws:
-
ClassCastException
- if the object is not null and is not assignable to the type T. - Since:
- 1.5
asSubclass
public <U> Class<? extends U> asSubclass(Class<U> clazz)
Casts this Class
object to represent a subclass of the class represented by the specified class object. Checks that the cast is valid, and throws a ClassCastException
if it is not. If this method succeeds, it always returns a reference to this class object.
This method is useful when a client needs to "narrow" the type of a Class
object to pass it to an API that restricts the Class
objects that it is willing to accept. A cast would generate a compile-time warning, as the correctness of the cast could not be checked at runtime (because generic types are implemented by erasure).
- Type Parameters:
-
U
- the type to cast this class object to - Parameters:
-
clazz
- the class of the type to cast this class object to - Returns:
- this
Class
object, cast to represent a subclass of the specified class object. - Throws:
-
ClassCastException
- if thisClass
object does not represent a subclass of the specified class (here "subclass" includes the class itself). - Since:
- 1.5
getAnnotation
public <A extends Annotation> A getAnnotation(Class<A> annotationClass)
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns this element's annotation for the specified type if such an annotation is present, else null.
- Specified by:
-
getAnnotation
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Type Parameters:
-
A
- the type of the annotation to query for and return if present - Parameters:
-
annotationClass
- the Class object corresponding to the annotation type - Returns:
- this element's annotation for the specified annotation type if present on this element, else null
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given annotation class is null - Since:
- 1.5
isAnnotationPresent
public boolean isAnnotationPresent(Class<? extends Annotation> annotationClass)
Returns true if an annotation for the specified type is present on this element, else false. This method is designed primarily for convenient access to marker annotations.
The truth value returned by this method is equivalent to: getAnnotation(annotationClass) != null
The body of the default method is specified to be the code above.
- Specified by:
-
isAnnotationPresent
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Parameters:
-
annotationClass
- the Class object corresponding to the annotation type - Returns:
- true if an annotation for the specified annotation type is present on this element, else false
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given annotation class is null - Since:
- 1.5
getAnnotationsByType
public <A extends Annotation> A[] getAnnotationsByType(Class<A> annotationClass)
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns annotations that are associated with this element. If there are no annotations associated with this element, the return value is an array of length 0. The difference between this method and AnnotatedElement.getAnnotation(Class)
is that this method detects if its argument is a repeatable annotation type (JLS 9.6), and if so, attempts to find one or more annotations of that type by "looking through" a container annotation. The caller of this method is free to modify the returned array; it will have no effect on the arrays returned to other callers.
- Specified by:
-
getAnnotationsByType
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Type Parameters:
-
A
- the type of the annotation to query for and return if present - Parameters:
-
annotationClass
- the Class object corresponding to the annotation type - Returns:
- all this element's annotations for the specified annotation type if associated with this element, else an array of length zero
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given annotation class is null - Since:
- 1.8
getAnnotations
public Annotation[] getAnnotations()
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns annotations that are present on this element. If there are no annotations present on this element, the return value is an array of length 0. The caller of this method is free to modify the returned array; it will have no effect on the arrays returned to other callers.
- Specified by:
-
getAnnotations
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Returns:
- annotations present on this element
- Since:
- 1.5
getDeclaredAnnotation
public <A extends Annotation> A getDeclaredAnnotation(Class<A> annotationClass)
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns this element's annotation for the specified type if such an annotation is directly present, else null. This method ignores inherited annotations. (Returns null if no annotations are directly present on this element.)
- Specified by:
-
getDeclaredAnnotation
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Type Parameters:
-
A
- the type of the annotation to query for and return if directly present - Parameters:
-
annotationClass
- the Class object corresponding to the annotation type - Returns:
- this element's annotation for the specified annotation type if directly present on this element, else null
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given annotation class is null - Since:
- 1.8
getDeclaredAnnotationsByType
public <A extends Annotation> A[] getDeclaredAnnotationsByType(Class<A> annotationClass)
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns this element's annotation(s) for the specified type if such annotations are either directly present or indirectly present. This method ignores inherited annotations. If there are no specified annotations directly or indirectly present on this element, the return value is an array of length 0. The difference between this method and AnnotatedElement.getDeclaredAnnotation(Class)
is that this method detects if its argument is a repeatable annotation type (JLS 9.6), and if so, attempts to find one or more annotations of that type by "looking through" a container annotation if one is present. The caller of this method is free to modify the returned array; it will have no effect on the arrays returned to other callers.
- Specified by:
-
getDeclaredAnnotationsByType
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Type Parameters:
-
A
- the type of the annotation to query for and return if directly or indirectly present - Parameters:
-
annotationClass
- the Class object corresponding to the annotation type - Returns:
- all this element's annotations for the specified annotation type if directly or indirectly present on this element, else an array of length zero
- Throws:
-
NullPointerException
- if the given annotation class is null - Since:
- 1.8
getDeclaredAnnotations
public Annotation[] getDeclaredAnnotations()
Description copied from interface: AnnotatedElement
Returns annotations that are directly present on this element. This method ignores inherited annotations. If there are no annotations directly present on this element, the return value is an array of length 0. The caller of this method is free to modify the returned array; it will have no effect on the arrays returned to other callers.
- Specified by:
-
getDeclaredAnnotations
in interfaceAnnotatedElement
- Returns:
- annotations directly present on this element
- Since:
- 1.5
getAnnotatedSuperclass
public AnnotatedType getAnnotatedSuperclass()
Returns an AnnotatedType
object that represents the use of a type to specify the superclass of the entity represented by this
Class
object. (The use of type Foo to specify the superclass in '... extends Foo' is distinct from the declaration of type Foo.)
If this Class
object represents a type whose declaration does not explicitly indicate an annotated superclass, then the return value is an AnnotatedType
object representing an element with no annotations.
If this Class
represents either the Object
class, an interface type, an array type, a primitive type, or void, the return value is null
.
- Returns:
- an object representing the superclass
- Since:
- 1.8
getAnnotatedInterfaces
public AnnotatedType[] getAnnotatedInterfaces()
Returns an array of AnnotatedType
objects that represent the use of types to specify superinterfaces of the entity represented by this Class
object. (The use of type Foo to specify a superinterface in '... implements Foo' is distinct from the declaration of type Foo.)
If this Class
object represents a class, the return value is an array containing objects representing the uses of interface types to specify interfaces implemented by the class. The order of the objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface types used in the 'implements' clause of the declaration of this Class
object.
If this Class
object represents an interface, the return value is an array containing objects representing the uses of interface types to specify interfaces directly extended by the interface. The order of the objects in the array corresponds to the order of the interface types used in the 'extends' clause of the declaration of this Class
object.
If this Class
object represents a class or interface whose declaration does not explicitly indicate any annotated superinterfaces, the return value is an array of length 0.
If this Class
object represents either the Object
class, an array type, a primitive type, or void, the return value is an array of length 0.
- Returns:
- an array representing the superinterfaces
- Since:
- 1.8
getNestHost
public Class<?> getNestHost()
Returns the nest host of the nest to which the class or interface represented by this Class
object belongs. Every class and interface is a member of exactly one nest. A class or interface that is not recorded as belonging to a nest belongs to the nest consisting only of itself, and is the nest host.
Each of the Class
objects representing array types, primitive types, and void
returns this
to indicate that the represented entity belongs to the nest consisting only of itself, and is the nest host.
If there is a linkage error accessing the nest host, or if this class or interface is not enumerated as a member of the nest by the nest host, then it is considered to belong to its own nest and this
is returned as the host.
- API Note:
- A
class
file of version 55.0 or greater may record the host of the nest to which it belongs by using theNestHost
attribute (JVMS 4.7.28). Alternatively, aclass
file of version 55.0 or greater may act as a nest host by enumerating the nest's other members with theNestMembers
attribute (JVMS 4.7.29). Aclass
file of version 54.0 or lower does not use these attributes. - Returns:
- the nest host of this class or interface
- Throws:
-
SecurityException
- If the returned class is not the current class, and if a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for the returned class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of the returned class - Since:
- 11
isNestmateOf
public boolean isNestmateOf(Class<?> c)
Determines if the given Class
is a nestmate of the class or interface represented by this Class
object. Two classes or interfaces are nestmates if they have the same nest host.
- Parameters:
-
c
- the class to check - Returns:
-
true
if this class andc
are members of the same nest; andfalse
otherwise. - Since:
- 11
getNestMembers
public Class<?>[] getNestMembers()
Returns an array containing Class
objects representing all the classes and interfaces that are members of the nest to which the class or interface represented by this Class
object belongs. The nest host of that nest is the zeroth element of the array. Subsequent elements represent any classes or interfaces that are recorded by the nest host as being members of the nest; the order of such elements is unspecified. Duplicates are permitted. If the nest host of that nest does not enumerate any members, then the array has a single element containing this
.
Each of the Class
objects representing array types, primitive types, and void
returns an array containing only this
.
This method validates that, for each class or interface which is recorded as a member of the nest by the nest host, that class or interface records itself as a member of that same nest. Any exceptions that occur during this validation are rethrown by this method.
- Returns:
- an array of all classes and interfaces in the same nest as this class
- Throws:
-
LinkageError
- If there is any problem loading or validating a nest member or its nest host -
SecurityException
- If any returned class is not the current class, and if a security manager, s, is present and the caller's class loader is not the same as or an ancestor of the class loader for that returned class and invocation ofs.checkPackageAccess()
denies access to the package of that returned class - Since:
- 11
- See Also:
getNestHost()